Shared aperture dichroic active tracker with background subtraction

ABSTRACT

An imaging self-referencing target tracker (10) for a laser weapon (12). The weapon generates a first beam of radiation (14) that engages a target (16) to form a beam hit spot (20) thereon. In a first embodiment, a target illuminator (22) (variant 1) illuminates the target with a second beam of radiation (23a). An optics subsystem (30) receives and separately images the first and second beams (23b, 24) of radiation. In a second embodiment, a blocking filter (40) is implemented rather than an illumination laser to pass only radiation at the target wavelength, thereby ensuring that the first and second beams of radiation are separately imaged. A controller (32) is programmed to steer the first and second beams of radiation to the desired target aim point (18) in response to information from the imaged first and second beams of radiation. The tracker of the present invention tracks the laser hit spot relative to the actual target image in a closed loop manner, thereby increasing the probability of accurate target engagement and resulting in a target kill.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser.No. 08/919,413, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,021,975, filed on Aug. 27, 1997entitled Dichroic Active Tracker. The present application containssubject matter in common with U.S. patent application Ser. No.08/919,080, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,918,305, filed on Aug. 27, 1997 entitled"Imaging Self-Referencing Tracking System and Associated Methodology",and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/920,538, now U.S. Pat. No.5,900,620, filed on Aug. 27, 1997 entitled "Magic Mirror Hot SpotTracker", both of which are assigned to TRW, Inc., assignee of thepresent invention.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to systems for tracking movingobjects in conjunction with a laser beam and, in particular, to aself-referencing, imaging tracker that separately images target andtarget laser hit spot radiation to directly reference the laser hit spotrelative to the target in a common coordinate system, thereby allowingthe laser weapon to be locked onto, and maintained at, a desired targetaim point until a target kill is achieved.

2. Discussion

Image trackers are often used in conjunction with lasers or otherweaponry to disable inflight missiles. Conventional image trackerspresently employ only non-self-referencing schemes for directing a laserbeam to a desired target aimpoint. In practice, this means that thelaser beam direction in space is inferred from the tracker line of sightas the tracker tracks the missile.

Trackers using imaging, non-self-referencing techniques typicallyutilize one or more imaging devices, such as electronic cameras, thatfirst determine an approximate, or wide field of view (WFOV) position,and then an instantaneous, or narrow field of view (NFOV), position of atargeted object. After capturing the target image in the NFOV's trackgate, the tracker, under servo-loop control, follows the target. In mostinstances, the tracker is physically mounted on gimbals in a beampointer. Therefore, the pointer line-of-sight also tracks the target ifthe pointer and tracker are properly boresighted.

Although conventional imaging, non-self-referencing trackers oftenprovide adequate target location functions, a number of limitationsexist with such systems. For example, in medium wave forward lookinginfrared (FLIR) based trackers, the laser weapon used for targetengagement often interferes with the tracker imaging system, asinstantaneous non-specular return from the laser hit spot on the objectoften blinds the camera, or, at least causes the camera automatic gaincontrol to reduce camera gain to accommodate the bright laser hit spot,thereby losing all target image information. Typically, thelaser-reflected power is some 40 to 60 dB greater than the targetthermal signature. Additionally, with regard to long wave FLIR basedsystems, bright thermal energy from heated war heads may also blind suchsystems, causing the systems to lose track of the targeted object.

Solutions to the above problems include programming the system to selecta laser aim point outside of the narrow field of view (NFOV) or the useof short wave infrared (SWIR) track bands with active illumination,causing the laser return to be invisible to the NFOV SWIR camera. If thelaser aim point is selected outside of the view of NFOV however, thelaser beam pointing must be determined by feed forward estimation. Suchan end point selection is undesirable, as it eliminates missilenose-kill possibilities, and is subject to estimation noise as explainedearlier. Alternatively, if a short range IR track band is used, thelaser beam pointing must also be done via feed forward estimation. Sucha scheme increases the susceptibility of the tracker to atmosphericdisturbances.

Additionally, with non-self-referencing imaging trackers, the trackerline-of-sight must be accurately boresighted with the laser weapon lineof sight. Due to the design of such systems, it has been found difficultto maintain an accurate bore sight under adverse environmentalconditions.

Self-referencing trackers solve the above described limitations of theconventional imaging, non-self-referencing trackers by referencing thelaser beam instantaneous position to the target image itself rather thanto the tracker line-of-sight direction. Also, self-referencing trackershave lines-of-sight that need not be coaxial with the laser weapon,thereby subsequently minimizing the weight on the system gimbals andsimplifying system transmit optics.

Presently, non-imaging self-referencing trackers, such as the systemsdisclosed in pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/631,645, nowU.S. Pat. No. 5,780,838, entitled "Laser Crossbody Tracking System andMethod", now U.S. Pat. No. 5,780,838, and U.S. patent application Ser.No. 08/760,434, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,780,839, entitled "Laser Crossbodyand Feature Curvature Tracker", now U.S. Pat. No. 5,780,839, bothincorporated herein by reference, are known in the art.

Non-imaging self-referencing trackers are presently deployed as verniertrackers; that is, the trackers correct residual image jitter created byimperfect image tracker performance. Thus, the non-imaging tracker bearsthe major tracking burden for difficult targets, such as small artilleryrounds or maneuvering cruise missiles. Non-imaging self-referencingtrackers use the laser beam itself to seek and hold onto a glint, suchas a cylindrical missile roll axis. Therefore, the laser beampositioning on the target becomes independent of tracker jitter in thejitter direction and within the non-imaging tracker track bandwidth.

Although non-imaging self-referencing systems provide certain advantagesover imaging, non-self-referencing systems, there is still room forimprovement in the art. For example, there is a need for an imaging,self-referencing laser beam tracker that can be locked onto a desiredtarget aim point, whether or not a glint is present at that point, andheld on the aim point at will. In addition, there is a need for animaging, self-referencing tracker that provides maximum noise immunityfrom atmospheric optical turbulence through measurement of the laserbeam position relative to the position of the target through the sameatmospheric path. There is also a need for an imaging, self-referencingtracker that reduces or eliminates the pointing error associated withthe estimated aimpoint offset associated with conventional open looptrackers by measuring an actual laser hit spot location on the targetrelative to the target itself.

In copending application Ser. No. 08/919,413, pending filed on Aug. 27,1997, entitled Dichroic Active Tracker, a dichroic beam splitter is usedto separate the near IR range radiation reflected from the target fromthe mid IR range radiation reflected from the high energy laser (HEL) toimage the target and the target hit spot on separate detector arrays.Both the near IR range and mid IR range radiation reflected from thetarget are received over a common optical path. Unfortunately, there isabout a 50-60 dB difference in the near IR radiation reflected from thetarget and the mid IR radiation associated with the HEL which can causediffuse scattering of the reflected radiation which can result insaturation of the detector arrays possibly causing errors in the servoloop which locks the HEL on the hit spot on the target.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the tracker of the present invention provides target aimpoint selection and calculation of the track-point offset via a highpower laser beam closed loop tracking system. There are two variants ofthe present invention; In variant 1, a pulsed near-infrared bandilluminator laser, mounted near the tracker, illuminates the missilebody, enhancing its image, as received by the tracker. In the trackerare two detector arrays; one sensitive to the near-IR radiationassociated with the illuminator, but insensitive to the mid-IR radiationassociated with the laser, and a second array sensitive to the mid-IRband but not the near-IR band in which the target image is determined.In the second variant, the mid-IR band is divided into two sub-bands;one containing all the laser lines, and one extending to the band limitdetermined by atmospheric absorption. Typically the bands are: (a)laser: 3-4 μm and; (b) target image; 4-4.5 μm. These sub-bands arecreated by a blocking filter that is placed in the target image opticalpath. The image and laser hit spot from either variant are co-registeredby optics choice and physical constraints placed on the detector arrays,then target and hit-spot centroid information refer to a commoncoordinate system from which the laser hit centroid vector distance tothe image centroid is readily determined. The desired laser aimpoint mayalso be transcribed into that same coordinate system, therefore aservo-loop arrangement sensitive to the vector difference between thelaser hit-spot and the laser aimpoint activates, driving the laser hitspot to the assigned laser aimpoint.

More particularly, variant 1 of the present invention provides a targettracker that includes a target illuminator that illuminates the targetwith radiation of a first wavelength. A laser weapon generates a laserbeam comprised of radiation having a second wavelength. The laser beamengages the target and forms a laser beam hit spot thereon. An opticssubsystem receives and detects both the illuminated target and the hitspot. A controller is programmed to steer the laser beam in response tothe detected target and hit spot locations.

Variant 2 of the present invention provides a target tracker thatincludes an optics subsystem that separately images target radiation andlaser hit spot radiation. A blocking filter incorporated into the opticssubsystem ensures that only radiation at the target radiation wavelengthpasses to the first detector, while only radiation at the target hitspot wavelength passes to a second detector. The blocking filterobviates the need for the target illuminator utilized in variant 1. Acontroller then steers the laser beam generated by the laser weapon inresponse to the detected target and target hit spot locations.

In addition, the present invention provides a method of tracking atarget. The method includes the steps of selecting an aim point on atarget; illuminating the target with radiation having a firstwavelength; engaging the target with a laser beam of a second wavelengthto form a laser beam hit spot on the target; simultaneously imaging theilluminated target and the laser beam hit spot; and steering the laserbeam to a target aim point based on a calculated difference between thetarget aim point and the laser beam hit spot.

In an alternate embodiment of the invention, a shared aperture is usedfor the outgoing high energy laser (HEL) and the incoming reflectedradiation from the target by way of a telescope optics arrangement. Asapphire shared aperture arrangement is used to take advantage of theannular occlusion in the outgoing HEL beam. In particular, a hole in theshared aperture element, corresponding to the annular occlusion regionin the HEL beam, transmits near IR range radiation from the target andreflects mid IR range radiation associated with the HEL beam. Since themillimeter wave infrared reflectance-coated sapphire transmits near IRrange and reflects mid IR range radiation, the target detector isinsensitive to mid IR radiation scattered from the target while thescattered light in the mid IR range is reflected to a mid IR rangedetector for imaging the laser hit spot on the target. In order toprevent the diffuse scatter from affecting the mid IR range imagingdetector, the reflected radiation in the mid IR range is directed to atilt mirror and, in turn, reflected to the laser spot detector array.Depending on the angular position of the mirror, the tilt mirror imagesradiation from the laser hit spot on the target or from the background.By periodically sampling the background radiation, the backgroundradiation can be subtracted from the mid-IR radiation in order toimprove the signal to noise ratio of the signal. The target and laserhit spot detector arrays are co-registered to enable the laser to belocked onto an aimpoint on the target by closed loop control.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a block diagram illustrating the tracker according to apreferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 1B is a block diagram illustrating the tracker according to asecond preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2A illustrates the components of the optical subsystem of the firstpreferred embodiment shown in FIG. 1A in more detail;

FIG. 2B illustrates the components of the optical subsystem of thesecond preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 1B in more detail;

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate images detected by the detector arrays of theoptical subsystem shown in FIGS. 2A-2B; and

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating the methodology associated withthe operation of the tracker of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an alternative optical system for use withtracker according to an alternative embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an optical processing system for use withthe alternative processing system illustrated in FIG. 6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIG. 1A, a missile tracker according to a first preferredembodiment of the present invention is shown generally at 10. Thetracker is implemented in conjunction with a laser weapon 12 to steer alaser beam 14, produced by the laser weapon, into engagement with atarget, such as the missile shown at 16. The tracker functions first tolock the target in its field-of-view, then to drive the differencebetween the desired target aim point, indicated by the cross hairs at18, and an actual laser beam target engagement point, referred to as thelaser beam hit spot 20, to zero, thereby increasing the probability of atarget kill.

As will now be described, the tracker of the present invention imagesboth the missile 16 and the laser beam hit spot 20 in a manner thatminimizes loss of missile information using one of two possibleimplementations which will be referenced throughout as variant 1 andvariant 2. FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate an alternative embodiment of theinvention which utilizes a shared aperture for the outgoing mid IR rangeradiation of the laser beam 14 and the near IR range indicationreflected from the target 16.

In variant 1, as shown in FIG. 1A, the system includes an illuminatorlaser 22 that preferably operates in the near infrared band. The laser22 illuminates the missile 16 with a series of short pulses of light23a. The illuminator laser 22 creates an enhanced image of the missile16 contained in the reflected radiation 23a, that includes minimalbackground interference because of its short pulse length image gating.The reflected radiation 23b, in combination with radiation 24 reflectedfrom the target hit spot 20, form an input beam of radiation, indicatedgenerally at 25.

Still referring to FIG. 1A, the input radiation 25 is incident uponreceiver optics 26. The radiation from the missile contained in theincident radiation may be, for example, 1.54 microns, while theradiation from the laser may be, for example, 3.80 microns. However,these wavelengths are arbitrary as long as the tracker imagers,discussed below, image only radiation from specific predeterminedwavelengths. The radiation 25 passes to tracker optics 30, whichseparates the radiation from the missile 16 and from the laser beam hitspot 20 in a manner that is described in more detail below. The trackeroptics 30 generate an electrical output that is fed into trackerelectronics 32. Tracker electronics, enabled only during the pulsing ofthe laser, process the signal information from the tracker optics 30 andcorrespondingly output beam steering commands 34 to the laser weapon 12.

FIG. 2A illustrates the tracker optics 30 in greater detail. The inputradiation 25 is focused through input optics onto a recollimating lens36. The recollimating lens 36 passes the collimated input beam onto adichroic beam splitter 40. The dichroic beam splitter 40 splits thecollimated input beam of radiation 25 into a first beam of radiation 42and a second beam of radiation 44. The first beam of radiation is passedthrough a band pass filter 46 that permits radiation only at thewavelength of the laser beam 14 to pass. The filtered radiation thenpasses through a detector imaging lens 50 that focuses the radiationonto a focal plane detector array 52. Preferably, the focal planedetector array 52 is a charge coupled device (CCD) array of detectors,with each detector in the array being proportionally sensitive to allradiation incident thereon. The detector array 52 preferably includes anassociated gain that is adjusted according to the level of the firstbeam of radiation.

Still referring to FIG. 2A, the second beam of radiation 44 is outputfrom the beam splitter 40 through secondary focusing lens 54. Thesecondary focusing lens 54 focuses the beam onto a second detector array58, which is of a type similar to the array 52. The array 58 outputselectrical signals 60 corresponding to the signal level of the beam ofall radiation 44 incident thereon.

Referring to FIG. 1B, a missile tracker according to a second preferredembodiment of the present invention, variant 2, is shown generally at10'. The tracker 10' includes components that are identical to those inthe tracker 10 shown in FIG. 1A, and operates in a manner similar to thetracker 10. However, the tracker 10' does not include an illuminatorlaser. Rather, as shown in FIG. 2B, the tracker optics subsystem 30'utilizes a blocking filter 53' between the beam splitter 40' and thesecondary focusing lens 54' to pass radiation only at the wavelength ofthe target radiation 23b'. In addition, the detector array 52' is of thesame type as the detector array 58'. Thus, although the target 16' maynot be illuminated as brightly as the target 16 shown in FIG. 1A, andthus the target radiation 23b' may not have a luminous intensity likethat of the target radiation 23b resulting from radiation 23a beingreflected from the target 16, variant 2 eliminates the need for theilluminator laser 22.

Referring to both FIGS. 2A and 2B, an alignment assembly of the typethat is commercially available, such as an autocollimator, maintainsco-registration of arrays 52 and 58, so that the images may bereferenced identically with respect to one another in a commoncoordinate system. As the individual images are generated, a differencevector between the laser beam hit spot and the desired target aim pointcan thus be computed with respect to the common coordinate system.Tracker electronics are programmed by conventional programmingtechniques to drive this vector difference to zero. The laser beam isthen servo controlled to the desired target aim point and held there fortarget engagement purposes.

It should be appreciated that the input optics associated with thetracker of the present invention are designed so that both the targetand laser beam image can be captured in the system's field of view andsuccessfully processed by the tracker of the present invention. Thus,the input optics 36 must be reflective or include dichroic refractiveelements.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, coregistration of electrical signalsgenerated by the detector arrays 52, 58 for both variant 1 and variant2, will now be described. As shown in FIG. 3, an image generated by thedetector array 52 is shown. The image generated as shown generally at80, corresponds to the laser beam hit spot formed by laser beamradiation scattered from the missile target body. As shown, the image ofthe missile itself is at a threshold level below that of the band passfilter 46, and is therefore not imaged by the detector array 52. Thefilter is preferably as narrow as possible, depending on laserstability, in order to reduce black body energy arising from hot metalof the missile body. Preferably, the narrow band optical filter iscentered on the strongest laser line, if the laser has multiple lines.

It should be appreciated that the arrays 52, 58 are aligned by thealignment system such that a given pixel occupies the same relativeposition in both arrays, as indicated at 82 in FIG. 3. Correspondingpositions are also shown relative to the instantaneous laser beamposition on the missile target body indicated at 84.

Likewise, in variant 1 the detector array 58 detects the missile imagefrom radiation having a shorter associated wavelength than the radiationforming the laser beam hit spot. In variant 2, laser wavelengths areblocked by the blocking filter. Thus, as shown in FIG. 3, the laser beamhit spot is not imaged by the detector array 58.

Referring to FIG. 4, the reflected laser beam hit spot again is shown at80. The target aim point is shown at 88. Tracking electronics processthe electrical signal outputs from the arrays 52, 58 to determine adisplacement vector 89, that represents the spatial difference betweenthe laser beam hit spot 80 and the target aimpoint 88. Because thearrays 52, 58 are coregistered, the displacement vector 89 can bedetermined to some fraction of detector element size in common with allarrays. The electronic system thus is capable of directing the laserbeam to any position on the missile body under closed loop control, withthe tracking electronics algorithm always maintaining the laser beam onthe missile midline. Thus, the present invention provides the capabilityof aiming the laser at any point on the missile, under closed loopcontrol, without the need for detecting a glint off the missile body orother requisite target detection means.

Referring to FIG. 5, a flow diagram illustrating the methodologyassociated with the tracker of the present invention is shown at 90. At92, the tracker receives input radiation. At 94, the tracker beamsplitter separates the input radiation into a first beam of laserradiation that is reflected from the missile at the laser beam hit spot,and a second beam of target radiation emanating from the missile body.At 96, the first beam is imaged on the detector array 52, whichgenerates electrical signals corresponding to the detected hit spot. At98, the second beam is imaged on the detector array 58, which generateselectrical signals corresponding to the detected missile body. Theco-registration afforded by the alignment assembly ensures that trackingerrors due to the separate imaging of the laser hit spot and the missilebody are minimized. At 102, the tracker analyzes the imaged hit spot andmissile signature through the above-discussed tracking software, andcalculates a target centroid. At 104, the tracker determines if the hitspot varies from the desired target aimpoint. If the hit spot does varyfrom the aimpoint, at 106 the tracker, through its self-referencingservo loop, steers the laser beam to drive the distance between the hitspot and the aimpoint to zero. If the hit spot corresponds to theaimpoint, the methodology ends until the tracker detects a subsequentdeviation of the hit spot from the aimpoint.

An alternative embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIGS. 6 and7. In this embodiment a shared aperture is used for the outgoing highenergy laser and incoming reflected radiation from the target. Theshared aperture arrangement takes advantage of the annular centralocclusion in the outgoing high energy laser (HEL beam). In particular, asapphire aperture element is utilized with a pair of co-registereddetector arrays. One detector array is used for imaging mid-IR rangeradiation reflected from the target 16 while the other detector array isused for imaging near IR range radiation from the target. The sapphireshared aperture elements are optically aligned with the short IR rangedetector thus making it invisible to mid-IR range radiation reflectedfrom the target. Since the coated sapphire window transmits in the nearIR range and reflects in the mid IR range, mid-IR range radiationscattered from the target is reflected to the mid-IR range detector. Atilt mirror is used and allows the background radiation to beperiodically sampled and subtracted from the mid IR radiation level toimprove the signal noise ratio of the system.

Turning to FIG. 6 an illuminating laser, such as the illuminating laser22 (FIG. 1a), operating in the near IR range, illuminates the target 16with a series of short pulses creating an electronic timing signal usedto control the tracker electronics 32 in order to provide an enhancedimage and minimum background interference. In this embodiment, thetracker optics 30 illustrated in FIG. 1a are replaced with the trackeroptics illustrated in FIG. 6, and generally identified with thereference numeral 150. The tracker optics system 150 includes a coatedsapphire shared aperture element 152 which enables the outgoing highenergy laser radiation from the laser weapon 12 (FIG. 1a) and theincoming reflected radiation from the target 16 to utilize the sametelescope optics, generally identified with the reference numeral 154.The shared aperture element 152 takes advantage of an annular hole orocclusion region (typically 10% to 25%) that occur in a high-energylaser beam. More particularly, most high-energy lasers are known toemploy confocal resonators (not shown). In such a configuration, thelaser beam emerges from the resonator in an annular form. The annularlaser beam is known to have a hole or occlusion region in the range fromabout 10% to 25%. The shared aperture element 152 takes advantage ofthis central occlusion region. In particular, the shared apertureelement 152 is provided with a hole 158 that matches the hole in thehigh-power laser beam to permit mid-IR range radiation scattered fromthe target 16 to be applied to a mid-IR range detector array 156. Thesapphire shared aperture element may be an optically finished turningflat coated with a special very high reflectance coating that makes itan efficient mirror at the laser wavelength, yet allows it transparencyat short IR wavelengths.

The tracker optic system 150 also includes a near IR detector array 160for imaging the target 16. Imaging lenses 162 and 164 are used to imagethe near IR radiation and mid-IR radiation on the target detector array160 and mid-IR radiation spot detector array 156, respectively. Thefocal lengths of the lenses 162 and 164, as well as the dimensions ofthe detector arrays 156 and 160 are selected so that the arrays 156 and164 are co-registered. In other words, the target measurement of lengthz derived from one detector array corresponds with the same measurementsin the other array. Moreover, the pixels x, y in one array correspondwith the same pixels x, y in the other array.

The sapphire shared aperture element 152 transmits radiation in the nearIR range and reflects radiation in the mid-IR range. As such, near IRrange radiation reflected from the target 16 is applied to the lens 162and to the target detector array 160 while mid-IR range radiationreflected from the target reflected to incorporate the laser spotdetector array 156 by way of a tilt mirror 165, a filter 166 and thelens 165. The filter 156 is a narrow band filter centered on the mid IRrange laser wavelengths such that only reflected mid-IR radiation isimaged onto the detector 156. With such a configuration the sapphire isessentially invisible to the short range IR radiation reflected from thetarget 16.

The tracker optics system 160 includes a telescope optics system 165. Asmentioned above, the telescope optic system 154 is shared by theoutgoing high-energy laser radiation from the laser weapon 12 and theincoming reflected radiation from the target 16. In this configuration,the high-energy laser radiation from the laser weapon 12 is applied tothe shared aperture element 152 and reflected outward by the telescopeoptics 154. The hole 158 and the shared aperture element 152 enables thereflected mid-IR range radiation from the target to be directed to thelaser spot detector array 156. As shown in FIG. 6 the telescope opticsystem is illustrated with a lens equivalent Galilean telescope.However, the principles of the present invention are applicable to othertelescope optics systems such as a Cassegrain telescope.

Since the telescope optic system 154 is shared for both the outgoinghigh-energy radiation as well as the incoming reflected radiation, theoutgoing radiation is known to have about 60 dB greater power than thereturning light causing diffuse scatter which could affect the laserspot detection. In order to resolve this problem, the tilt mirror 165 isprovided with a corresponding tilt mirror driver (not shown) whichenables the mirror 165 to rotate about one of its axis by a relativelysmall degree, for example 0.05°. Depending on the instantaneous positionof the mirror 165, the laser spot detector array 156 either sees thetarget or background since the local high power back scatter does notchange for such a relatively small angular exertion. With such aconfiguration, the background can be subtracted on a periodic basis toincrease the signal to noise ratio. As such, the tracker electronics 32are replaced with the tracker electronics system one shown within thebox 170.

The laser spot detector array 156 as well as the target detector array160 are used in part to convert the optical radiation signals toelectrical intensity signals. In order to improve the signal to noiseratio of the signal, the tilt mirror 165 may be periodically rotated bya relatively small degree in order to sample the background radiation inorder to enable the background signal to be subtracted from the imagedbeam hit spot signal. More particularly, the output of the laser spotdetector 156 may be amplified by a preamplifier 172 and applied to asynchronous switch 174. The synchronous switch 174 is used to enable thesignal plus the background and the background only to be periodicallysampled so that the background can be subtracted from the signal plusbackground signal in order to improve the signal to noise ratio of theimaged beam hit spot. The synchronous switch 174 is driven by the tiltmirror generator 176 which also drives the tilt mirror 165 itself. Thesynchronous switch 174 may be a single pole double throw switch. In aposition as shown in FIG. 7, the synchronous switch is used to samplethe signal plus the background. In the opposite position (not shown),the synchronous switch 174 is used to sample the background only.

A pair of sample and hold amplifiers 178 and 180 are attached to thesynchronous switch 174. The sample and hold amplifier 178 samples andstores the signal plus the background while the sample and holdamplifier 180 samples and stores the background only. The outputs of thesample and hold amplifiers 178 and 180 are applied to a backgroundsubtraction device 182 which may be a summing junction with positive andnegative inputs. In particular, the output of the sample and holdamplifier 178 as applied to a positive input of the summing junction 182while the output of the sample and hold amplifier 180 is applied to anegative input. The output of the summing junction 182 is a signal withan improved signal to noise ratio representative of the laser spotradiation. See generally, the section on gated video trackers and inspecific, the section on the Optimality of the Centroid Algorithm in"The Infrared handbook", W. J. Wolfe, E. J. Zissis, Eds., prepared byThe Environmental Research institute of Michigan, published by theOffice of Naval Research, Washington D.C., 3rd printing, 1989, p. 2271,et seq., hereby incorporated by reference, the laser spot signal 156 isapplied to a centroid microprocessor 184 for determining thedisplacement of the laser spot relative to the centroid of the target16. This displacement vector represents an error signal which is used tocontrol the high energy laser 12 under closed loop control.

As mentioned above, the mirror IR range detector 160 is used for imagingthe target. The detector 160 converts the reflected IR radiation toelectrical intensity levels which are amplified by a preamplifier 186and applied to a sample and hold circuit 188 and in turn to the centroidprocessor 184. As mentioned before, the distance from the laser spot asrepresented by the signal at the output of the summing junction 182 isused to generate a displacement factor which is used as an error signalfor forming a servo loop relative to the high energy laser. As discussedabove, the difference between the high energy laser spot and thecentroid is used to create the error signal and a target beam centroiddifferencer, which is applied to a summing junction 192 along with adesired aimpoint vector. See generally, the section on gated videotrackers and in specific, the section on the Optimality of the CentroidAlgorithm in "The Infrared Handbook", W. J. Wolfe, E. J. Zissis, Eds.,prepared by The Environmental Research Institute of Michigan, publishedby the Office of Naval Research, Washington D.C., 3rd printing, 1989, p.22-71, et seq., attached as Appendix A. The desired aimpoint vector isrelative to the target outline and may be derived from a library ofoutlines. A library of target cross sections may be used to support thistracker concept. These library entries may include information about aspecific target's most vulnerable spots. For example, a Russian STYXmissile has a cable trough running underneath the missile body. If thecable is cut, the missile fails, because it loses all control. It thusis a very "soft" target for a laser weapon. The displacement vector isapplied as an error signal to a servo loop which includes a feedbackamplifier 194 and a fast steering mirror controller 196 which is used tosteer the high energy laser beam 16. The error signal is summed with thedesired aimpoint vector to cause the system to drive the mirrorcontroller 196 so as to null the error between the desired and resultlaser spot on the target 16 under closed loop control.

Upon reading the foregoing description, it should be appreciated thatthe tracker of the present invention is operative to: (a) acquire andhold a target in its field-of-view and (b) place a laser beam at adesired target location under closed loop control. Thus, the tracker ofthe present invention now allows the laser weapon to attack a missile orother target at any aspect angle. In addition, the tracker is nowinsensitive to burning debris and other sources of system distraction,as the tracker images the target at the wavelength of the illuminationlaser (variant 1) or at the light wavelength passed by the blockingfilter (variant 2), and the hit spot at the reflected hit spot radiationwavelength, with all other wavelength being eliminated fromconsideration. The tracker of the present invention is also a standalone tracker, and thereby need not work through the same atmospherictube as the laser beam. The tracker of the present invention is selfreferencing, and thus measures the instantaneous position of the laserbeam relative to the target itself. It is contemplated that the trackerof the present invention could be inexpensively retrofit to presentlaser weapon trackers.

Various other advantages of the present invention will become apparentto those skilled in the art after having the benefit of studying theforegoing text and drawings, taken in conjunction with the followingsclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A target tracker, comprising:a laser thatgenerates a first beam of radiation that engages a target to form a beamhit spot thereon; a target illuminator that illuminates the target witha second beam of radiation; an optics subsystem for receivingreflections of said first and second beams of radiation, said opticssubsystem further including two detector arrays said optics subsystemconfigured to separate the reflections of said first and second beams ofradiation and separately imaging the beam hit spot and the target onsaid detector arrays, said optics subsystem including a shared apertureelement for outgoing radiation and incoming radiation from said target;and means for steering the first beam of radiation to a desired targetaim point in response to information from the imaged beam hit spot andtarget.
 2. The target tracker as recited in claim 1, wherein said sharedaperture element is adapted to transmit near IR range radiation.
 3. Thetarget tracker as recited in claim 2, wherein said shared apertureelement is adapted to reflect mid-IR range radiation.
 4. The targettracker as recited in claim 3, wherein said shared aperture element isformed from sapphire.
 5. The target tracker as recited in claim 1,wherein said shared aperture element is provided with a hole selected tocorrespond to an annular occlusion in said first beam of radiation. 6.The target tracker as recited in claim 1, further including controllingmeans which includes means for improving the signal to noise ratio ofsaid imaged beam hit spot.
 7. The target tracker as recited in claim 1,wherein one of said detector arrays is used to image near IR rangeradiation.
 8. The target tracker as recited in claim 7, wherein one ofdetector arrays is used to image mid IR range radiation.